CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[subdaman]

hi guys..

just joined up cos i needed some help and information.. wonderful wonderful website i must say..

story goes something like this..

i was walking down the streets last night and i saw this warehouse sale that intrigued me.. walked in and it was a clearance of equipment from a govt. office.

Saw a few projectors, amongst them a NEC 6PG Xtra.. picked it up for 300 AUD.... tubes only had 1230 hours of usage .. so my guess is that it's good?? chassis had a combined usage of 1230 hours too...only bummer is that it does not have the 2 remotes..

now i took it back home and started doing my research...i have owned projectors in the past but never a crt because i could never find something that was within my budget...they always seemed to be 3/4 grand plus

was initially a bit thrown aback by the possibility of having to buy a scaler / processor but then further research throughout the night indicated that it was needed for sd sources only...

so now, my question is this

i have a pioneer blu ray player that can do hdmi without the audio running through it..it's a pioneer bdp-51fd

now i have a couple of questions.

a. if i am running component (1080i) from the player, all i need is a converter to convert to a RGBHV format with BNC right?

b. if i am running hdmi (1080p) from the player, i need something like the hdfury 2 or the moome and then conversion from the vga type plug to BNC right?

c. What kind of conversion actually happens from a vga to 5 BNC cable? is it just a simple manipulation of the connectors?

d. Out of options a. and b. , theoretically which would give a better picture (keeping the crt constant) and practically, which actually gives a better picture? ( with/without gamma correction)

e. Is there an option to put in extra cards within the system?

f. where can i buy the remotes from?

thanks in advance guys...

[Elaine Benes]

Your output from the blu ray player will either need to be "transcoded" which means changed electronically from one analog signal type called component, to another analog signal type called RGBHV, or it will need to be converted from the digital signal, HDMI, to an analog one, RGBHV.

If you want the most flexibility from your player, use a converter for the HDMI output. Doing this will allow you to use your player as not only a blu ray player, but also as a DVD upconverter. You can choose ANY output resolution, *including* 1080p, but not limited to that if you use a digital HDMI converter like the HDFury/HDFury2.

VGA is a computer resolution, but is used commonly to refer to the HD15 connector that is found on computer displays. The HD15 connector is simply a compact way that computer producers have chosen to transfer the analog RGBHV signals from the computer to the monitor. The VGA connector carries the RGBHV analog signals your NEC needs.

Your NEC will NOT take component signals directly, they must be transcoded from a Y, Pb, Pr with tri-level synch on the Y channel, into a signal which has separate Red, Green, and Blue picture information, and synch information on either separate Horizontal and Vertical channels, or combined H and V synch on one channel.

Also, as I'm sure you know, your NEC won't accept a digital input, ie. HDMI, hence you'd need a converter for the HDMI signal. The output of the converter is an analog signal, and some converters allow you to choose the type of analog signal, either component, OR RGBHV. You would choose RGBHV, of course, and use a "breakout" cable to connect the VGA style output of the converter device to a physical connector your NEC can use.

Breakout cables do just what the name implies, they "break out" the individual signal wires from the HD15 connector to separate leads with just about any connector you can imagine on the end, you simply find/choose/make one with the connectors appropriate to your device. Breakout cables do not change the signal they carry in any way. In your case, you're looking for an HD15 to 5BNC breakout cable. I buy them locally at a store called "Princess Auto" which carries all kinds of electronic odd bits from surplus and bankruptcy sales, but before that I bought them from ebay, usually for less than $10.(with a very cursory search: http://snipurl.com/hjlez [cgi_ebay_com] )

Most would recommend 1080i for your projector, but it can *just* handle displaying 1080p, and if you can set it up well enough, it will look fine, however, using 1080i will be easier on the electronics, and closer to the ideal values your projector was designed to display best. At 1080i it will be razor sharp.

Remotes can be had on ebay, alternately, you can download the Pronto ccf file and add it to your Pronto learning remote if you have one. Personally, for an NEC, I much, much prefer "hard buttons" on the remote and have used my Pronto simply to learn the remote commands to a smaller hard button remote like the Sony RM-VL600, a very good, cheap hard button learning remote.

So to summarize, you need an HDMI format converter, and a breakout cable as the least number of devices to get your blu ray player displaying on your projector, and if you want to add a gamma boost device for better low level black detail, that would be a good idea too.

Personally, having used Beun's devices from the beta testing stage, I would recommend either the RTC2200, or the BUFF2000 devices to add gamma boost. They work great, and the RTC2200 will also transcode your component if you choose. The VGA input on the RTC2200 is also subject to the gamma boost circuit though, so it works fine with whichever HDMI converter you choose.

Hope this helps clear things up for you. Be patient setting up the NEC, it can be a challenge to the novice.

[tommo2]

HDMI out of the bluray player is the way to go, then into HD fury, then to projector. You need the vga to 5bnc breakout cable from hdfury to projector. Yes, it is just a manipulation of the cables.
The hdfury output cable should be no more than 6 inches, however. Any longer and you will get huge losses, especially at higher resolutions.

Using component out of your blu-ray player will give the least quality picture. The moome card may be the most expensive option.

You are probably best using a long vga to 5 bnc breakout cable going to the projector, and using a cable driver to send the signal over this long length. You can get the added advantage of gamma correction and "left-shift" fix with the box 1040.

So, a setup like this would work:

Bluray player > HDMI out > HD Fury > short VGA to VGA cable (under 6 inches) > Box 1040 > long VGA to 5BNC cable > projector.

You can then add a HDMI switcher before the HD fury to add more inputs when the time comes, Satellite TV, XBOX, PS£ etc.

You can also use the Box 1040 component input to connect a PS3 or Xbox via component.

You can decide whether using hd fruy or hdfury 2 is best for yourself. Also, there is a Gamma correction add-on available for the Hdfury. It won't fix any left-shift issue, but it will act as a cable driver for your long cables. You may use this instead of the box 1040.

Find info on the box 1040 here:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Box1040.shtm

The hd fury, hdfury 2, gamma-x, and hdmi switcher:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Products.shtm


Glad to help.

Hey, welcome to the forum

[subdaman]

Thanks guys....

its good to have these clarifications cleared up..

to be honest with you, i have worked with projectors in the past but never a crt simply because of the prohibitive price and considerable size-- i have 3 of them myself setup for different applications....one outdoors, one for gaming(for my friends) and watching sd sources and another one for my computer....

i do have my doubts regarding how good the 1080p signal on the nec would be simply because as elaine pointed out, it would be too taxing on the electronics....but i would like to see both signals just to see the difference really..

so my question now is this

say i choose to stay with 1080i, i.e. which is the better option of the two? The HDFURY (1 or 2) or the transcoder box ? as in, go the hdmi way or the component way?
-- i am aware that with the hdfury hdmi way, there is future scope for scalability -- but on a purely picture quality basis, which is the better option?

[subdaman]

also, it would be great if a few NEC 6pg xtra owners could give me some healthy tips on how to setup things..thanks...

i am up for it..bit of a diy kinda guy hence i went for it...

[bbfarmht]

First you can't do 1080p. It will however do 720p or 1080i. I prefer 720 on this projector. Go to Curts setup page, you will find what you need to help you start setting it up. If someone is close to you they may be willing to stop by and help you with the setup.

Good luck and welcome to the crt addiction. This may be your first, but it won't be your last.

[Elaine Benes]

[tommo2]

[bbfarmht]

[Bill913]

I have my 6pg extra running 1080p through the Moome box and have had no trouble with sync. But, I think 1080i or 720p might be a better option because of scan line overlap at 1080p.

Bill

[Mark_A_W]